A Failed Attempt at Independence

We bought my son a cute little kid umbrella.  It was just the right size for him.  He was so very excited about having his own umbrella.  A few days ago, we took the subway to Toys R Us to get him a car seat for the rare car rides in Japan and saw the umbrellas.  In Seattle, we rarely use umbrellas, simply using our awesome rain coats to keep us dry.  But rain is different in Japan.  There are typhoons here and the rain seems to always either fall in buckets or not at all.  Even coming from "rain country," I was amazed by the rain here!  So, we see the cute little umbrella and we buy it for him.  Two days later, it is raining (just misting, but he was so excited to use it).  He gets it from the closet and opens it up and it doesn't stay open.  The clip at the top to hold the umbrella up is broken.  It was so disappointing!

Today was the first day my husband went to work at his new office.  Today was the day I was going to take my son and return the broken umbrella.  Just the two of us!  I've traveled the subways and trains in Japan before and they do not intimidate me.  I am a little concerned about how I am going to return the umbrella with my very limited Japanese skills, but it is obvious that the darn thing is broken and I have the receipt.  We'll be fine.

After a couple attempts of FaceTiming friends (we kept getting dropped calls and couldn't call back.  Stinking technology - love it and hate it all in the same breath!), we headed out to do this errand all by ourselves.  We get to the subway and purchase our tickets.  We get on the train and even transfer trains with ease.  We wander through the maze of tunnels and find Toys R Us with no problem whatsoever.  We take the escalator up to the store and... the store is closed.  Metal doors pulled down.  Sign saying they are closed for the day.  Even though I can't read the sign, I can understand the date and the locked doors.  Well, darn!  (Not quite the phrase that ran through my head, but no need to be graphic.) 

I look around.  Let's save this and not make it a wasted trip.  Let's do something special, just the two of us to commemorate this first day without daddy/husband/personal translator.  Oh, there's an aquarium!  Let's go there!  So, we follow the signs to the aquarium.  My son is getting excited after the closed toy mecca debacle.  I find the elevators that go up to the aquarium (which is at the top of the building).  We wait and then go in.  This is one of those fancy elevators with attendants and everything.  They are wearing fun aquarium shirts.  My son smiles brightly at me.  I push the aquarium button (not just a floor, number but it actually says "aquarium" on the button in Japanese).  Suddenly then button turns off.  What?  Did someone else push it?  Japanese elevators are so awesome that if you push the wrong button, you can push it again and it will cancel the request so you don't have to go to a floor you didn't intend to.  So smart!  I push the button again, just in case someone else accidently canceled in in their excitement to go to the aquarium. It turns off again.  Not cool.  I tap the shoulder of the attendant and say "Aquarium?"  She smiles, makes a big X with her arms and says "No aquarium.  Closed."  Our hearts sank.  Now what will we do?

I look at my phone and it is almost noon.  We will go out to lunch!  That's a great plan.  We haven't struggled through a menu yet.  Let's do that!  So we shamefully take the elevator back down.  We look around the shopping center and everything is closed.  I don't get it.  The only restaurants I can find open are McDonalds (don't get me started, but we aren't going there) and a restaurant with a set menu starting at $35/person.  Nope.  Not taking a 4 year old there for lunch - even if he is the best, most adventurous eater I've ever encountered.

(My husband looked up the reason why we ran into all the closures today and it turns out the building was closed for maintenance.  What are the chances?)

Ugh!  Now I'm getting cranky.  I just need food and something to entertain my kid.  We head back on the train.  We gather up all our energy and stop by a shop to buy dirt and a pot for our lettuce.  Then we find a cheap take out sushi place and buy inari, pressed sushi, and a roll.  Finally we go back to our apartment.  We eat and then I take a nap.  My son plays in the apartment. 

When I get up, I'm determined that we're going to start fresh and do something today.  We quickly plant our lettuce seeds and then head out to go to the park.  On our way, we stop by a pet shop to look at the kittens and puppies.  We even get to pet one.  Next stop is the park - and it's filled with kids!  Turns out you just need to go after school.  He played hard, running from slide to swings to chute (like a slide, but with rollers) and back.  He got some serious energy out!  After an hour or so, we headed home.  We stopped at the bakery on the way and also the grocery store.  And it was good.  Maybe not as epic as we hoped, but we still survived our first day without my husband by our side and we didn't get lost, we didn't get arrested, we were just fine (cranky, but fine). 

And tomorrow, we'll try it again.